Catalyst Fitness

The 2010 Apprenticeship Program

In 1998, after finishing University, I  started my education.

With a degree under my belt, I was still young enough to believe I knew everything - or that I could figure it out, at least.  Twelve years later, I realize I'm still just starting.  I scramble, every day, desperate for answers.  Each new piece of research raises more 'why?'s than "a-HA!"s. 

There exists a gap between a student's formal education and the readiness to apply practical knowledge.  In more industrial fields, Apprenticeship programs bridge the distance. Sadly, in the fitness community, fresh-from-the-oven recruits are typically thrown into leadership roles with as little as a weekend of instruction.  Ready?  Fire!  Aim!

Even with a four-year degree, I recognize now that I was in no way prepared to train people at an acceptable level; I thank my earliest clients for the start of my real education. I was blessed with a collective of very inquisitive teens (most of whom are now pursuing education in kinesiology-related fields) who quizzed me on every detail of their training.

Looking back further, had it not been for the hands-on immersion of high school co-op education, I'd be miserably fixing computers today, carrying even worse posture, nearing my first heart attack and shying away from carrying 'heavy' monitors.  That gratitude toward employers willing to take on risk for no discernible benefit prompted us to accept 4 co-op students this semester, and it's been very rewarding.

One of the best things about the Catalyst Coaching Team: diversity.  We're united by a common pursuit of excellence, but our backgrounds are very different.  Exposure to each coach, in turn, will give a much broader perspective into excellence than any coach alone.

This summer, we're offering the type of program we wish we'd had during our formal education: hands-on, in-depth, and challenging.  We'll be accepting five students to study with each coach on the Catalyst roster; assist in coaching groups; get their feet wet with individual programming; experience the endurance required to be a great coach; read and write research; coach and referee at events; and perform better, themselves, at individual skills.

We're asking each student for a small enrollment fee.  The value of this program - including participation in Catalyst groups for free, a free membership, and some paid work time - exponentially exceeds the cost.  That said, we don't want everybody.  Students will be assigned a letter grade at the end of their residency.  Not all students who pass through our Apprenticeship program will eventually be hired to work at Catalyst (in fact, most won't) but new Catalyst staff will come from this group. 

Over the summer, students will:

• Participate in coaching at both Sault Ste. Marie facilities;
• Be enrolled in every Catalyst group offered at no additional cost;
• Learn to operate the Park gym, in pairs and solo;
• Write, read, and study more intensely than any University program;
• Assist in coaching CrossFit groups;
• Assist in coaching sport-specific groups
• Assist in coaching for special populations
• Assist in coaching teams
• Become trained in the CAT Testing system;
• Receive group training on professionalism, coaching, and client adherence strategy
• Participate in coach-only meetings and clinics
• Actually do the stuff that makes us great.

Prerequisites:

• Enrollment in a College- or University-level exercise-science program
• Confidence
• Outstanding verbal and written skills (this sounds like a filler.  It's not.  If you can't write without correcting mistakes, save yourself the time.)
• Experience in a wide variety of exercise philosophies, not just techniques
• Ditto nutritional strategies
• Ability to laugh at yourself
• NOT be a perfectionist
• "Beginner's Mind"
• Familiarity with the CAT Testing system
• Happy and smiley at 6am and 9pm - ideally, on the same day
• You've got to care.  "Liking the job" is not enough: if it wakes you up at night, you have the potential to be one of us.

Interested?  Email chris@catalystgym.com for the Student Residency Package. If your email is your first contact with us, please tell us your story.

Are Kipping Pullups Cheating?

This:                                                                                    is not this:

....absolutely true.  CrossFit is frequently the target of derision among those who haven't done a WOD.  Without a foothold from which to attack the science, they instead pick out minutae - like the kipping pullup - and ridicule, instead of question.

The goal of the kipping pullup? Perform more work.  Not "isolate the back" (as if such a thing were possible,) or "widen the lats" or "build thickness."  The kipping motion allows for greater wattage output in the same amount of time, and more consecutive work to be accomplished.

The most common counter-kipping position?  It's "cheating."  But by whose rule-sheet?  Is there a secret Hoyle Book of Calisthenic Exercise?  Is this guy really our best frame of reference; our greatest referee?

Kipping is different, yes; and often, different means scary.  That's our Lizard Brain talking.  

A kipping pullup and a bodybuilding pullup are different exercises. Neither are 'better' than the other without the context of the athlete's goal.  The goal of the kipping pullup is NOT to develop the 'bodybuilder' pullup; therefore, use of the kip does not detract from the usefulness of the exercise.

I'm still amazed, after 14 years in the industry, at the furious arguments online over what's "right" or "wrong" - as if there were such things.   Our goals, as part of the CrossFit community, are to increase work capacity across broad time and modal domains.  Do bodybuilder-style pullups have their place at our table?  Yes, insofar as they increase our ability to do more abduction in the frontal plane in less time.  They're an assistance exercise, like front squats and bench presses.  They're means to a greater end.

The path to glory can't be charted from a couch.  If you're exploring the New World, you've got to be on this side of the globe before you can comment on the natives.

Intro To Crossfit Workshop

CrossFit is more than a workout posted on a website. It is a

community of like minded, hard working individuals who believe in a system

of short, intense, constantly varied exercises and its supporting nutritional

beliefs. The exercises are full body, functional, and demand attention to form.

Our focus will be first on perfect movement.

It has long been said that CF is potent medicine and the best way to approach

it is from a long, slow on ramp.

Our Introduction to Crossfit Workshop is designed to take people through the basics of the CrossFit exercises and prepare athletes for moving into Workout of the Day (WOD) classes with a firm grasp of the movements and intelligent substitutions for exercises that suit their specific needs. Enrollment will be limited to 6 people in the workshop to insure more individual attention for each athlete. The emphasis will always be on skill development before intensity.

We will begin with the non-technical and get progressively more technical.

The cost of the Introduction to Crossfit Workshop is $60, plus GST.

Upon completion, you'll be given a punch card for 4 CrossFit group sessions 

($52 value!)

The benefits will last you forever, whether you continue with CrossFit or not.

What to Expect:

90 Minutes of constant coaching and practice in 9 fundamental movements: the squat, front squat, press, push press, Jerk, pullup, deadlift, kettlebell swing, and Clean. We'll finish with a quick, unweighted 'Fran': a Crossfit classic WOD. We'll discuss CrossFit philosophy and methodology; we'll answer questions; we'll laugh and cheer and sweat. After this brief introduction, you'll be ready to join our mainstream CrossFit groups with a sound foundation in the basics.

Though we'll use only minimal weight (usually a piece of PVC pipe!) this is a tough workout, and will likely leave you very tired the next day. We build skill through repetition, and that takes its toll. Even those familiar with doing common exercises like squatting will change and improve their technique, and should be prepared to 'feel it' the next day!

The Introduction to Crossfit Workshop is every Saturday morning at 7:30am (Industrial Park location.)  Advance registration is required; please call 256-1344 to get on the list!

WARNING:

You may find it impossible to go back to your old gym after one week of high-intensity workouts here. CrossFit is quickly growing because thousands of individuals continue to see incredible results from workouts that last only 20-30 minutes each day. If you are willing to commit we can help you achieve levels you simply never thought your body was capable of performing.

Squatting

“The full squat is a perfectly natural position for the leg to occupy. That’s why there’s a joint in the middle of it, and why humans have been occupying this position, both unloaded and loaded, for millions of years. Much longer, in fact, than quasi-intellectual morons have been telling us that it’s “bad” for the knees.”

- Mark Rippetoe

We squat a LOT. You're probably sitting right now, and you squatted to get there; you'll squat again to get up. Sitting is just squattus interruptus.

The notion that squats are 'bad for the knees' is ridiculous. There's no more basic human movement than sitting down and standing back up again; it's one of the first movements you learned as a child, and one of the last you'll ever be able to do without help. Should you find yourself suddenly unable to stand under your own power, you'll despair. And yet, there are those in the fitness community who think that 'squatting is bad for you.'

This misconception comes from the bodybuilding idea that squatting is a quadriceps exercise. In reality, real squatting should begin and end with the hip joint. Quadriceps fire to assist in the movement, but don't do most of the work, according to electromyleogram data.

See, back when, the thought process went like this: my thighs burn. They must be weak. If I raise my heels, they burn even more. If I stay on my toes by putting a 2x4 under my heels, I must be using my quads more, and I'll get better results, because more is better.

Of course, there was no study of kinesiology back then beyond "this is what I feel." Since the hip is such a strong joint, it's rarely the limiting factor, and thus the quadriceps 'burn' early and often.

Proponents of high-volume quadriceps training for sport or life believe that quadriceps are the key to standing and acceleration under load. This is akin to putting new brake pads on a car to make it go faster. Hip extension is key to running, sport, lifting stuff off the ground, and jumping. Quadriceps play an important role, but as a knee extensor, they're largely overemphasized in most programs.

We frequently see a lack of posterior-chain flexibility in new clients. In our culture, we simply sit way too often, and don't crouch - or squat - enough. Look at this picture of kids in a marching band, instructed to squat: they're over their toes, pressure at the knee, heels off the ground. No wonder patellar tendonitis (inflammation of the tendon under the kneecap) is huge in young athletes!

Squats should be done sitting back over the heels, shoulders pulled back, heels on the ground. Not all coaches appreciate this fact, since the majority of information available in the mainstream media is geared to bodybuilding and, thus, irrelevant to athletes. Above: the 1920s Brooklyn Dodgers developing some chronic knee issues.

Surprisingly, powerlifting has a lower incidence of knee injury than most sports, and it has nothing to do with the fancy knee wraps. Most knee injury occurs from either contact or rotation of the upper leg with the lower leg planted, NOT from linear movement. Chronic issues can occur, however, when the posterior chain is undeveloped, or knee angle is exacerbated by squats performed incorrectly over a long period.

Like anything else, coaching is important. Learn to squat properly (hip-driven, over the heels, and low) and then add weight. You can even learn perfect technique - FREE - at our boot camps or 'Sunday Morning Salvation' groups.

Ten Exercises You've Never Tried, Vol. 1